Micro-transaction Shop. Yay or Nay?

[Munx]

Why would anyone WANT a micro transaction shop, when the same goodies could just be put into content updates?

 

Not only would it save money. It's more rewarding to earn your goodies by achieving something in game, rather than simply forking over extra money.

 

Its the "I am a pretty little girl, who is completly unique because I payed more" syndrom.

[Xerda]

I'm completely ignorant of this concept and don't understand it.

[Hellbrass]

 

What do you think?

 

Cryptic put me off Micro-transaction shops in Subscription based games for life. Their attitude with Star Trek Online seemed to be why bother to put it in the game when we can charge you for it on the C-Store, leading to entire races being held back on launch to be release for cash later. They also promised that their micro-transactions would be cosmetic only and not offer an ingame advantage, a promise they broke within a month.

 

So after being burnt by one company, im now dubious about seeing them in any other subscription game.

[Pythius]

Frankly, I wouldn't give two shakes of a whale's tail if patch 1.2 introduced a new hooded robe model. The people who work on that kind of content are not the people who work on the kind of content I actually care about.

 

My point is, we're already paying for that hooded robe model with our subscription. There is no reason that we, the player base, should want to see microtransactions.

Edited December 15, 2011 by Pythius

[Goretzu]

Warhammer from what I can gather also have advantage micro-transaction items, not to mention warhammer wasnt exactly a sucsess.

 

 

 

The pets that buffed out of combat stats or things like coin gain were big sellers in WAR (more than cosmetic pets - although they sold).

 

However the P2W pet (that buffed your stats in combat), was a massive seller, because basically everyone had to have one (being P2W).

 

Bioware EA won't have missed this fact.

[essell]

I'm completely ignorant of this concept and don't understand it.

 

The basic idea is you can have an in-game shop that takes real money, not an in-game currency, where you can buy items to use in the game. Usually these cost very small amounts of money so we call them "micro-transactions".

 

As you can see, some of us like it, some of us don't. I've learned more about people's thoughts on this matter in the last thirty minutes than in the rest of my life.

[revial]

While I hate microtransactions, for all the other people who claim to hate them, there is obviously a huge silent segment of the population that loves the idea of paying for things.

 

Gold farming wouldn't be the multimillion dollar industry if half your friends who claim they don't buy gold were telling the truth.

 

 

Is it any wonder that companies like EA may want to try to capitalize on that?

 

TL;DR: I hate MT, but since the game was originally supposed to be MT-based, I strongly suspect MT will show up at some point.

[Fascion]

My point is, we're already paying for that hooded robe model with our subscription. There is no reason that we, the player base, should want to see microtransactions.

Another viewpoint might be that the new hooded robe model would simply not exist without microtransactions. It's existence in the game was funded by people's willingness to buy it, allowing them to keep more of this staff on-hand.

[Valhakar]

Yay - because I can afford it and nothing brings a smile to my face faster than some broke *censored* hippie raging about my wasteful expenditure.

 

If you want to talk about wasting money, you are spending X hours a week wasting your productivity. If you are that tight with a quarter, log off and go earn some more cash. Eventually you get to the point where you have enough. When that happens, what's a buck for a pink speeder cycle in a virtual game? Nothing.

 

And then you will become me....

[crimsonjax]

HELL. NO.

 

I plan on spending alot of time with this game. I don't want any cheesy gimacks like microtransactions to uneven the playing field.

[TheAvengingKnee]

No cash shops, they aren't needed

[Goretzu]

My point is, we're already paying for that hooded robe model with our subscription. There is no reason that we, the player base, should want to see microtransactions.

 

 

 

Unfortunately there's every reason Bioware EA does though, as it's having their cake and eating it for them.

 

 

 

The problem is it goes very quickly from cosmetic to out of combat/non combat stat boosters to P2W boosters.

 

There was a massive out cry about the P2W pet in WAR, but in the end it sold a LOT and at nearly 1 months sub a time, it soon added up.

[Hellbrass]

Warhammer from what I can gather also have advantage micro-transaction items, not to mention warhammer wasnt exactly a sucsess.

 

Warhammer Online also charged some of its customers 500 times in one month. I'm hoping Bioware will be breaking quite a few of WAR's traditions.

[essell]

Cryptic put me off Micro-transaction shops in Subscription based games for life. Their attitude with Star Trek Online seemed to be why bother to put it in the game when we can charge you for it on the C-Store, leading to entire races being held back on launch to be release for cash later. They also promised that their micro-transactions would be cosmetic only and not offer an ingame advantage, a promise they broke within a month.

 

So after being burnt by one company, im now dubious about seeing them in any other subscription game.

 

I agree StarTrek online took it too far. Considering how terrible the game was I think they could have spent more time on that instead of more baubles for the shop.

 

I think the shops are often introduced into failing MMOs just to try and get more money out of the customers you still have left.

 

I don't think that has to be the case and if it's done well it wouldn't mess things up. If there's anyone I trust to do it well, it's Bioware.

 

As for the companies selling items that should be launched in free content updates to subscribers, I suspect the developers time would not be spent on that at all in many games. Without the ability to sell what they make for real money many companies would simply not bother making new content. I'm sure that won't be the case here, at least not for a long time.

[Jivesauce]

edit: thread moved very fast. Everything had been said already and people aren't going to change their opinions anyway. Edited December 15, 2011 by Jivesauce

[Foxtrotmikelima]

Nay........Im a big fan of both Star Wars and Star Treks Franchises. And when STO came out I was really excited to be apart of Star Treks first MMO. Not long after they introduced a small MT store to the game. At first it was fine, mostly fluff like skins for your current ships and some minor tweaks like reskills being sold. Then came the 20-25 dollar ships and even more items that were promised to be in game long before launch that never made it in but somehow landed on the MT store. They also began adding what was considered X.5 Tier Ships (for those that dont know, your ship was based on your rank, so there were 1-5 tier ships, X.5 were ships that were placed in a certian Tier but their set up wase obviously more advanced then anything you could get by playing the game)....Two years in, and almost a whole year of lies, misleading information and manipulation. The game went F2P and the playerbase found itself alienated against and in many ways forced to go to a silver (free) account just so they could actually rationalize playing the game.

 

I dont think SWTOR will have to worry about going F2P because of the sheer size of subs it will generate because of the Franchise and because of WoW slowly bleeding subs. But a MT is a very slippery slope.

[xDisciplex]

No Freakn Way>>>

[Munx]

The basic idea is you can have an in-game shop that takes real money, not an in-game currency, where you can buy items to use in the game. Usually these cost very small amounts of money so we call them "micro-transactions".

 

As you can see, some of us like it, some of us don't. I've learned more about people's thoughts on this matter in the last thirty minutes than in the rest of my life.

 

That there is right is just plain wrong.. the Micro part of the sentence has been applyable for years... theres nothing micro about it.

 

Take Tf2 hats as a example, those are so called "micro" transactions.

 

I can tell you this much, I have been trough a absurd amount of so called F2P games in my 12 years or so of mmo gaming, this system does nothing good for the community, and more importantly it does nothing good for you wallet.

 

And the fact that you want it applied to a p2p game, is just absurd from my perspective seeing as I have had much more experience with these kinds of systems then my wallet cares to admit.

 

I am fine with applying "micro" transactions to f2p games, there it is the only source of income for the developer.

 

adding it to a p2p mmo however, a fully priced on at that, is straight out greed, and as history tells us, greed does only grow, starts out innocent and bam suddenly you get to buy the "WtfPwnElectroGunOfMassIvePownAge.tm".

[Pythius]

Unfortunately there's every reason Bioware EA does though, as it's having their cake and eating it for them.

 

 

 

The problem is it goes very quickly from cosmetic to out of combat/non combat stat boosters to P2W boosters.

 

There was a massive out cry about the P2W pet in WAR, but in the end it sold a LOT and at nearly 1 months sub a time, it soon added up.

 

I know. If/when the day comes when Bioware starts selling pay-to-win boosters, no matter how much I enjoy playing this game, I'll be gone.

[revial]

A lot of strange reactions in here with little explanation. Again, the o.p. asked for reasons WHY people would be opposed to such a system, and no one has given a real one. If you don't want to buy something from the shop, how does it affect you if one still exists. Remember, we're talking about purely vanity items, not anything needed to stay competitive in the game.

 

People have said multiple times. You are just obtuse. In case you didn't realize, they have been running an MMO for over a year now while working on SWTOR. It's called Warhammer Online. And, that cash shop is decidedly not vanity only.

 

Combined with SWTOR initially being announced back in 2008 as having MT (something they quieted down on presumably because their PR person is competent), and...well, I think there's some room for concern.

[Goretzu]

I don't think that has to be the case and if it's done well it wouldn't mess things up. If there's anyone I trust to do it well, it's Bioware.

 

 

 

 

They've already done it in Warhammer Online, Bioware have had control of WAR for over 1.5 years now.

 

They [bioware] introduced the P2W pet (and many others).

 

The only hope is that they do it better the 2nd time, but EA may well override them (as I'm not convinced the actual game developers have much input/control on the "sales" side of things).

 

 

 

Personally I'm 100% against micro-transactions in sub based MMOs for this reason, but I'm 100% sure they'll be in SWTOR because of the $$$'s they make.

[Mourngrymm]

Micro-transaction shops belong in crap fests like Runes of Magic. To be truly competitive against the likes of WOW they will need to continually release compelling game-play content. People do care about cosmetics but that should not be the focus, game-play is what ultimately retains customers.

 

In my opinion I think that Bioware is in a strong position to knock Blizzard down a peg if they focus on making meaningful endgame content. I left WOW after 5 years because I felt the content was being too watered down. In the beginning battles focused on strategy and often required specific execution from specific classes to progress. There was a true depth to encounters that now seems to have been tossed aside in the name of making the game "more accessible" to casual gamers or those who cannot play as often.

 

This game I think already has broader appeal to those casual folks due to the multiple unique story paths. If they can focus on meaningful game-play development going forward they could truly be a force to be reckoned with in the genre.

 

I know that was long winded and borderline off topic so here is the short answer... NO!

[JogelBolla]

i've played wow for about 6 years on and off and never once payed for any mounts, pets, servers transfer, name change, faction change etc. Why? because as soon as i get on my shiny new winged lion mount ill get bored of it. Edited December 15, 2011 by JogelBolla

[AtamusX]

A game cant survive and thrive on a cash shop without offering items in it that give the players an advantage.

 

City of Heroes and Startrek Online as you have mentioned are both doing terrible. Both of these were failing games to begin with that switched to cash shops because they were failing.

 

Cash Shops just dont support a game unless there are things to buy that enhance your play. Looking pretty isnt enough to pay the bills unless it's one of those cheapy copy/paste korean mmo things.

[Valhakar]

i've played wow for about 6 years on and off and never once payed for any mounts, pets, servers transfer, name change, faction change etc. Why? because as soon as i get on my shiny new lion mount ill get bored of it.

 

They have medications for ADD.